A man wielding a knife stabbed six people during Jerusalem’s gay pride march Thursday, the worst incident of homophobic violence in the city in a decade. One woman is reported to be suffering serious injuries.

Haaretz reports:

One woman was critically wounded, Magen David Adom emergency services reported, adding that two men were moderately wounded, and another two men and a woman suffered light wounds. Magen David Adom emergency services treated the victims on the scene, and then rushed them to three different hospitals in Jerusalem.

Police confirmed that the suspected stabber is Yishai Schlissel, a Haredi man from Modiin Ilit who stabbed three participants in the 2005 Gay Pride march. He was recently released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence.

Thousands of people took part in the march, which was heavily secured by police. In the Keren Hayesod Street, a Haredi man broke into the crowd and stabbed several of the marchers. He was quickly wrestled down by police and arrested. Minutes after the stabbing, organizers and police agreed the march will go on and terminate in the agreed upon location in Liberty Bell Park.

Schlissel was sentenced for 12 years in prison for the 2005 attack after his conviction on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault. However, in 2007, following an appeal, the Supreme Court mitigated his sentence to 10 years.

After his release, Schlissel returned to his hometown, where residents said that he distributed hand-written pamphlets in which he called on “all Jews faithful to God” to risk “beatings and imprisonment” for the sake of preventing the parade.

Read more here.

–Posted by Roisin Davis